Nim

Biodata

Appearance

Nim is a short, elderly man wearing animal hides. Unlike the visibly mutated residents Neph has encountered, his facial features appear normal, without grotesque tumors 6.

• Hair: Grayish-white, hanging in untidy strands 6.
• Eyes: Deep, dark black 6.
• Face: Covered in exceptionally deep wrinkles 6.
• Height: The top of his head reaches approximately Neph’s chin 6.

Personality

Nim’s devotion to the Lord is closely tied to his hope for Moon City’s deliverance. When he believes Neph has come to rescue the city, he bows with tears on his face. Her promise of a miracle in two years replaces his disappointment with visible excitement 7. Even after being asked how he feels about the Lord becoming an evil spirit, his concern is whether the Lord can return to His divine throne—and whether he can help 49.

He is gentle toward Neph without abandoning caution. He offers her access to textbooks and lessons, avoids touching her unfamiliar artifact, and investigates its effects with Davy 15. His willingness to undergo experimental purification himself contrasts with his careful handling of Sealed Artifacts 38. When Bartel questions Neph’s motives, Nim rejects the suspicion because he witnessed her genuine happiness upon discovering a way to purify corruption 42.

History

Meeting Neph

Nim visits Neph beneath the Black Tower after she awakens from quarantine. He attempts to bow, but she supports him before he can do so. After she identifies herself as someone brought by the Lord, he addresses her as “Your Excellency Neph” and asks whether she is the Lord’s messenger 6.

Believing that Moon City’s long-awaited answer has arrived, Nim crosses his hands over his chest and cries “Chernobyl!” He asks whether Neph has come to take them away. He explains that Moon City has guarded the Gray-White Fog for 3,720 years, continuing its duty despite the land’s curse and the Lord’s silence. Neph promises that a miracle will arrive in two years 7.

Nim also tells her about a nearby hill that vanished two months and seventeen days earlier and an investigation team’s encounter with an original Demon Wolf. He introduces her to Davy, then provides a room and offers assistance with anything she needs 7 8.

Investigating the Blank Canvas

Nim and Davy determine that Neph is difficult for ordinary people and Middle-Low Sequence Beyonders to notice unless they deliberately search where she is located. They attribute this effect to the Blank Canvas she carries. The Canvas itself disappears from the investigative view of a Sealed Artifact 14 15.

Neither priest attempts to touch it, citing the danger of handling an unknown Sealed Artifact. Neph tells Nim that it is the Wordless Heavenly Book, bestowed by the Lord and readable only by the chosen. Nim subsequently offers to guide her to the library and arrange textbooks and classes 15.

Arula’s Death and the Lord’s History

Nim informs Neph that Arula is gravely unwell and cannot produce the demigod-level Mystical Item she wants. He explains that repeated catastrophes have cost Moon City many potion formulas and Beyonder characteristics, including those needed for further advancement along the Artisan pathway 14.

After Arula kills herself, Nim tells Narani that Arula held the city’s last Artisan characteristic. He also explains why her body cannot safely be preserved for Bartel: an earlier corpse mutated despite receiving Requiem, prompting immediate cremation after the rite 22.

In their subsequent conversations, Nim questions Neph about the Lord’s condition, the betrayal of His followers, and His current honorific name. He recognizes Dark Angel Sasrir as the Left Hand of God. Neph explains the True Creator’s condition and names three active betrayers, but refuses to provide the honorific name because conversion would expose Moon City to Amon’s hostility 22 23 24.

Purification and the Funeral Ceremony

Nim arranges a loan of the Lucky Coin when Neph requests help improving her luck. She later brings him information about A Bucket of White Paint, a Sealed Artifact capable of erasing corruption, and offers to leave it in Moon City 35 36.

After Neph removes Amon’s surveillance from the clock in Nim’s room, Nim examines the paint bucket with a powerful magnifying-glass artifact. He temporarily seals it using his Evernight Domain, then volunteers to have his own corruption removed 38.

Neph removes approximately sixty percent of his corruption. Nim reports that his soul feels much less burdened, but his Beyonder characteristics have become less stable. He declines further treatment, saying he has not felt so well in a long time 39.

Nim proposes a ceremony announcing Neph’s arrival. Following her suggestion, he adopts a funeral format intended to bury Moon City’s painful past. Since he does not know what a funeral is, Neph supplies explanations and written examples. He also asks her to provide an honorific name for the ritual or, at minimum, before she leaves 39 40.

Before the ceremony, Nim uses the paint bucket on Bartel while Neph monitors the boy’s soul. He removes about sixty percent of Bartel’s corruption and suggests that his recovery could serve as an example to the city 42.

Nim presides over the ceremony in Central Square. Residents place written accounts of their misfortunes in an Ice Coffin and recite the God of Winter’s honorific name. He presents the paint bucket as a gift capable of purifying people, objects, and food, then publicly repeats the promise of a miracle in two years 45 46.

Encounter with Amon

After Amon confronts Neph and she retreats into the Pure White Space, Nim enters the room occupied by a monocled young man. He behaves as though he notices nothing unusual 47 48.

The young man asks how Nim feels about the Lord becoming an evil spirit. Nim first asks whether the Lord can regain His divine throne, then states without hesitation that he hopes to help Him do so 49.

Abilities & Skills

Evernight Domain

As a Nightwatcher, Nim can create a domain of pure darkness 38.

• Provides defense and counteracts negative effects.
• Strengthens him and creates favorable conditions for spirits under his control.
• Corrodes enemies, gradually draining their vitality.
• Can afflict targets with misfortune.
• Temporarily suppresses A Bucket of White Paint’s negative effects; this seal requires frequent replenishment and is not a permanent solution 38.

Requiem

Nim can perform Requiem on the dead 22.

• Moon City previously relied on this rite when handling corpses.
• It does not guarantee protection against corpse mutation caused by unknown corruption; the city therefore burns bodies immediately afterward 22.

Mysticism and Artifact Handling

Nim possesses extensive knowledge of mysticism and mythology, including the identities and titles preserved in Moon City’s religious traditions 23.

• Investigates the Blank Canvas’s concealment effects with Davy 14 15.
• Uses a powerful investigative Sealed Artifact to examine Neph and the paint bucket 38.
• Operates A Bucket of White Paint to purify Bartel under Neph’s supervision 42.
• Reports that Moon City’s mystical forces cannot affect Neph during her initial protected state 24.

Reduced Need for Sleep

Nim is shown remaining awake through the night. Neph attributes this to his demigod-level abilities on the Sleepless/Evernight pathway 35.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Investigative magnifying glass — One of Moon City’s five powerful Sealed Artifacts. It has exceptionally strong insight, an unidentified pathway, and unknown corruption. Nim previously used it to observe Neph 38.
• A Bucket of White Paint — Entrusted to Moon City by Neph. Nim maintains its temporary darkness seal and uses it for purification. Treatment must be limited because the paint can also destabilize Beyonder characteristics 36 38 39 42.
• Clock bestowed by the Angel of Time — Kept in Nim’s room atop the Black Tower. Believed to have kept flawless time for thousands of years, it concealed Amon’s surveillance until Neph erased that influence 14 38.
• Lucky Coin — A luck-enhancing Mystical Item whose loan to Neph Nim arranges 35.

Relationships

• Neph / Pure White — Accepted as the Lord’s Oracle. Nim houses and assists her, receives purification from her, and organizes the ceremony welcoming her arrival 6 8 39 46.
• Davy — Fellow Moon City priest and collaborator in investigating Neph’s unusual presence and the Blank Canvas 7 15.
• Narani — Moon City’s educator. Nim informs her of Arula’s death and enables her to see her close friend’s body 15 22.
• Arula — Moon City’s last Artisan. Nim oversees the response to her deterioration and mourns her suicide 14 22.
• Bartel — Arula’s younger brother. Nim knows his hunting history, treats his corruption, and reassures him that he will recover 42.
• The Lord / True Creator — The object of Nim’s enduring faith; Nim wishes to assist His return to the divine throne 7 49.
• Amon — The giver of Moon City’s ancient clock. Nim learns of his hostility and surveillance from Neph, then later converses with him without visibly acknowledging anything unusual 8 24 38 48 49.

Notable Quotes

“Have you come to take us away from here?” 7

“I hope to help the Lord return to his divine throne.” 49